Absol (QC 2/3)

- Most powerful priority in the game
- Mostly used for set up sweeping
- Great coverage with Dark STAB and Superpower
- Still walled by bulky physical walls (Tangrowth, Steelix) unless running surprise special moves
- Many high powered coverage options (Megahorn)
- Pursuit trap
- Requires prediction
- Frail
- Owned by most Fighting-types

When the game's most powerful priority move in Sucker Punch is paired with the fastest Attack boosting move in Swords Dance, you can be be sure that there will be no shortage of victims. Swords Dance Absol is one of the RU tiers strongest sweepers, being able to destroy whole teams after a Swords Dance. However, the trouble is getting the boost; Absol's natural frailty and lack of resistances makes it very hard to set up without being significantly maimed in the process. Sucker Punch is Absol's signature attack, being able to circumvent its lowly Speed with priority means that Absol is very difficult to revenge kill. Superpower is a high base power move that has perfect neutral coverage alongside Absol's Dark-type moves. It allows Absol to comfortably take out Steel-types as well as hit Fighting-types neutrally. A Sucker Punch can be easily avoided through non-attacking moves, Absol runs a second STAB move in Night Slash. Although Night Slash's base power isn't very high, it has a good chance, in conjunction with Absol's ability, to land a critical hit. Despite Absol's strengths, its frailty and reliance on prediction means that knowing when to set up and sweep is of high importance.

- Set up sweeper that has priority
- Swords Dance boosts Absol's already high attack
- Sucker Punch is games most powerful priority
- Superpower for perfect coverage (Croagunk -_-)
- Night Slash so you don't have to rely on prediction, or get owned by Substitute users who can lower your attack and defense by forcing Superpower
- Still prediction heavy set
- Hard to set up

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

As Absol is so frail, investing in its bulk is pointless as it will still be 2HKOed if not OHKOed by any decently strong attack. Instead, all EV investment should go to Absol's Attack and Speed stats. If Absol is going to sweep, it shouldn't have to take hits anyway. The extra Attack lets Absol hit harder while the Speed, although a bit redundant alongside a priority move, lets Absol use coverage moves more quickly. Although Adamant is the default nature for its noticable power boost, Jolly can be used if outspeeding Adamant Braviary and others that sit around that Speed tier is imprtant for you. Life Orb is by far the best item for Absol, as it gives its moves a noticeable power boost at the cost of Absol's hitpoints. As Absol is so frail anyway, these hitpoints hardly matter. Substitute can be used in place of Night Slash to evade status and help with prediction; opponents who hope to stall away Sucker Punch will be met with an Absol that can safely move from behind a Substitute. However, as Absol will be relying far more on Sucker Punch, most Ghost-types will be able to PP stall Absol out of Sucker Punch. If Absol chooses tho run Sucker Punch then it should hold Leftovers instead of Life Orb; the residual damage from Life Orb and Substitute makes it extremely hard for Absol to sweep as it will easily kill itself. Lum Berry is another viable item as it allows Absol to set up a Swords Dance for free against status moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp, both of which are commonly used against Absol.

Megahorn is a strong alternative to Night Slash, having greater base power and also being able to hit common counter such as Tangrowth super effectively. However, it doesn't come with its own critical hit chance and can miss in crucial situations. Psycho Cut is Absol's best weapon against Fighting-types, and can easily eliminate the most common threats to Absol's sweep. However, aside from its usefulness against Fighting-types, it has fairly low base power and little coverage against other threats. Even with a super effective hit on Fighting-types, Absol still struggles to defeat Mach Punch wielders such as Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee who can move before Absol and inflict heavy damage with priority.

- Standard EV spread is standard
- Requires Life Orb as otherwise Absol doesn't hit hard enough
- Absol is too frail to really use Leftovers
- Can use Substitute instead of Night Slash, in this case use Leftovers
- Substitute helps with prediction
- Lum Berry for status effects such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic
- Super Luck + Night Slash = Crit
- Jolly can be used if you want to always outspeed Adamant Braviary and others
- Megahorn is stronger than Night Slash and hits Psychic-types and Tangrowth for heavy damage and normally a OHKO with +2
- Psycho Cut if you want to hit Fighting-types super effectively
- However, the most common Fighting-type, Gallade, takes neutral damage from Night Slash / Sucker Punch and Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee and beat Absol with super effective priority
- Hazards are hazards

Although Absol is a competent set up sweeper, it often finds itself unable to reliable set up. Instead, Absol can choose to run an all out attacking set that takes advantage of its unique Dark-type attacks and powerful coverage moves that can decimate common walls. Sucker Punch disposes of faster sweepers and Choice Scarf holding revenge killers, meaning Absol can play the role of revenge killer without having to lock itself into a move with Choice Scarf. Night Slash is a more reliable STAB move that has a good chance to land a critical hit. Superpower provides perfect neutral coverage alongside Absol's Dark-type STAB and severely damages the likes of Steelix and fellow Dark-types. However, due to the lack of any boosting moves such as Swords Dance, repeated uses of Superpower will lead to Absol becoming set up bait. Although Absol's Attack stat is far superior to its Special Attack stat, Fire Blast is still useful for frying Absol's biggest enemies. Tangrowth, Escavalier, Steelix, and Ferroseed all succumb to Fire Blast which does not force Absol's Attack stat to drop. However, Pursuit is also a viable option if you have ways of dealing with the aforementioned checks or just want Absol to be able to cleanly remove frail Ghost- and Psychic-types.

The EV spread and Adamant nature is the standard for a physical sweeper, with maximum investment in attacking power and Speed, Absol has the greatest chance to take down opponents. Any investment in Absol's bulk is usually wasted as Absol has few useful resistances and has very little lasting power even with investment. A Life Orb gives Absol a sizeable boost in power without locking it into any move, a Dread Plate can also be used to buff the power of Absol's Dark-types moves without the detreimental affects of Life Orb. It can also be used to bluff a Choice item and potential fool the opponent into losing an important part of their team. Psycho Cut can replace Fire Blast or Pursuit, if your team struggles against Qwilfish and Poliwrath, both of whom can otherwise wall Absol. Hidden Power Grass is useful to cut down Quagsire and do some damage to Alomomola.

Although locking Absol into one move has no synergy with Sucker Punch, Absol can still make use of Choice Band and Choice Scarf to boost Absol's wallbreaking and revenge killing abilities respectively. With a Choice Band, Absol can hit hard without having to take the risk of setting up, with a Choice Scarf, Absol can surprise common sweepers and hit them hard with a variety of powerful coverage moves. Aside from the special moves already mentioned, Absol can also use Thunderbolt, which is Absol's only hope against Alomomola. Absol's movepool also boasts of support moves such as Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Perish Song, and Baton Pass. While all of these moves have their niches, they are generally too unreliable to be of regular use.

[Checks and Counters]

Although Absol easily disposes of faster sweepers with its powerful priority, it struggles against bulkier walls and fellow priority users. Bulky Fighting-types are the bane of Absol's existence; Gurdurr, Hariyama, and Poliwrath all resist Absol's Dark-type STAB and can OHKO with super effective Fighting-type attacks. Mach Punch from the likes of Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee and easily slay a weakened Absol as their priority goes before Absol's due to their better Speed. Quagsire ignores all of Absol's boosts and can stomach anything bar a critical hit or Hidden Power Grass. Other bulky walls such as Tangrowth and Steelix can also stop Absol by virtue of their immense physical bulk but struggle against Fire Blast which hits them on their much weaker special side. Alomomola is impervious to almost anything Absol can do except for the rare Thunderbolt or debilitating status such as Toxic.

RU Co-Leader

I know this is a WIP, but i really think that Fire Blast should be slashed over pursuit on the All Out attacker set, and that Naughty should be slashed as the primary nature over Adamant. Fire Blast does way more damage to tangrowth than Megahorn can ever hope to do, and lands the 2hko on Steelix, which is a big roadblock for Absol otherwise because of superpower's Attack and Defense drop. Fire Blast also gives Absol a handy Weapon against Escavalier, Durant, and Ferroseed, OHKOing both of the former (has to hit durant on the switch in) and 2HKOing the latter while skipping the residual Iron Barbs damage and Attack drops from superpower. I would still keep Pursuit as a slash because it still has its uses, and a Pursuit coming from Absol is going to hurt like hell, but i think Fire Blast is simply the better option on the wallbreaking set.

Yeah. If Fire Blast is used on the allout attacker then you really have no use for the Megahorn slash. Imho the set order of moves should be:

Sucker Punch
Night Slash
Superpower
Fire Blast / Pursuit

With Megahorn in AC (or even OO) as an option over Fire Blast. I know it has an effective higher base power than Night Slash against Psychics, but you have to remember it's accuracy, and the fact that Night Slash has a 25% chance to crit. And even then, Sucker Punch is as powerful as Megahorn against Psychics. If you want to break Tangrowth then Fire Blast is the way to go. Other options that need to be ACd are Psycho Cut, as it 2HKOs incoming Qwilfish and Poliwrath who often come in on Absol, and Dread Plate should Absol be running Pursuit over Fire Blast. The extra survivability and bluffing ability have come in handy on more than one occasion for me. I think you should also mention that Fire Blast is very useful for Durant, as it often switches into Absol AND often tries to set up on it, meaning that Fire Blasting it as it sets up Hone Claws is generally a better idea than switching out. Don't mention Ice Beam in OO, as it doesn't hit anything, but rather Thunderbolt, as it' Absol's only way to 2HKO Alomomola. Speaking of which, that should also he in checks and counters, as even a +6 Night Slash fails to OHKO.

One of the fews fast pursuit avalaible on the tier (and good), with a great coverage Dark and Fighting types, great ability to take advantage to clean the opposite team with Night Slash and Zen Heabutt this last attack is chosen to hit Poliwrath, Qwiflish and Croagunk eviolite >:( mainly. Add on AC Megahorn is better with Adamant nature which 2HKO'ed Tangrowth w/ SR support but Jolly nature is really needed to outrun a lot of mons like Aerodactyl, Crustle +2, Aggron +2 or Swellow.